Emily pulled into the parking spot and cut the car off, turning towards Nate, that was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Emily turned to the back seat, looking at Nico, lost in thought, staring at her phone with a severe look on her face. Emily arched her eyebrow, looking confused at the two best friend's expressions.
"Are you guys alright?" Emily asked, and Nate shook his head, and Nico remained silent.
"No. No, I can't do this. Let's just go home and binge-watch some movies and eat tubs of ice cream," Nate answered with panic in his voice.
"Listen, if I have to deal with Andy stumbling over his words with me awkwardly, then you can deal with this," Emily said, rolling her eyes.
"What if I make a fool of myself? I embarrassed myself last night at the party," Nate asked, and Emily rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Look, it is going to be fine, and besides, if anything happens, you have me and Nico to get you out of a jam. Right, Nic?" Emily asked, looking in the back and noticing that Nico was no longer in the back seat. Emily tilted her head in confusion, and Nate turned his head, looking at an empty back seat, and rolled his eyes.
"I sometimes hate it when she does that," Nate stated, leaning back into his seat.
"You know she probably went inside. We should go. We shouldn't keep her waiting," Emily said, unbuckling her seatbelt. Nate nodded his head and unbuckled his seatbelt before opening the door with Emily doing the same. Emily walked around her car towards Nate's side throwing her arm around his shoulder giving him a reassuring smile before proceeding into the building.
Emily and Nate walked inside to turn their attention to the front desk to see if Nico was there, but they didn't see her, which is odd. They just saw many people either waiting in line to bowl or having out by the pool tables or a crowd of people hanging out in the food court. Emily turned to Nate, who was searching for Nico as well.
"Where is she?" Emily asked, looking around.
"I don't know. Imma text Nico," Nate said, pulling out his phone.
Suddenly Emily heard Nico laughing and turned her head and spotted Nico with a big smile on her face by the snack bar talking to people whose back is facing them. One of them turned, and Emily saw Andy's profile, and she felt her chest tighten. Emily watched his turn to Nico smiling at her looking at how he looked at Emily. Emily huffed and turned to Nate, watching him text away. Finally, she tapped Nate's shoulder, and he glanced over at Emily, who was looking at Nico.
"I found her," Nate turned and looked at what she was pointing at. "Let's go," Emily said, and Nate was frozen in place, and Emily linked arms with Nate and walked over towards Nico.
The two walked up to the three and watched Nico talk to Evan and Andy easily. As Nate watched Nico speak to his crush, he started to feel envious of Nico at how she could talk to people without feeling awkward. As Emily and Nate stood, Nico noticed them waiting to get her attention; she smiled at them.
"It is about time you guys showed up. The boys were getting a little worried." Nico said, punching Andy's arm lightly.
"The only thing I was worried about was that I was not going to be able to crush you at bowling tonight," Andy said, laughing a little.
"Sorry I didn't text you, hun. Nico said that you guys were in the car and you were going to be inside soon, and she couldn't wait anymore," Evan said, walking over towards Nate, giving him a hug and a little kiss on the cheek.
"It's fine. You are not upset with me?" Nate said to Evan in a low voice.
"I can never be upset with you. I am just glad to see you are doing okay and that I get to see you again," Evan said, giving Nate a loving smile causing Nate to blush.
"W- well, were you waiting long?" Nate asked Evan, and he shook his head.
"Not really. I got here five minutes ago," Evan said, wrapping his arms around Nate's waist.
"What about you, Andy," Nate asked, looking over at Andy, who was leaning on the counter a little.
"Actually, I just got here," Andy said.
"Yea, I bumped into him walking in. I told him that you guys were still in the car, and we decided to head to the front desk put our names down to get a lane. The guy told us that it would be a couple of minutes, so we decided to grab some snacks while we waited for a lane, and we ran into Evan," Nico said, smiling brightly. Nate gave Nico a small smile before looking back at Evan. Just then, the loudspeaker came alive, calling for Andy's name asking him and his party to go to the front desk.
"Well, I guess that is our cue. Ready to lose?" Andy asked, looking over at Nico, and she scoffed at him.
"In your dreams, freckles," Nico said, and the two ran off towards the desk.
"You coming, hun," Evan said, looking down at Nate.
"In a minute, someone should get the snack since they ran off, forgetting that they order food. Can you grab me my shoes in size ten," Nate said. Evan nodded and bent down to give Nate a little peck on the cheek before letting him go to the front desk leaving Nate and Emily alone. Nate looked over at Emily, and she had a look of disappointment on her face soon changed into anger.
"Hey, you okay?" Nate asked, lightly touching her arm.
"Yea, I guess," Emily said, shrugging her shoulders and avoiding Nate's eyes.
"What do you mean, I guess," Nate said to Emily.
"I mean, don't you think it is weird that I was standing here this entire time and Andy didn't say hi to me. Like he had a conversation with you, but he didn't even notice I was there. All of his attention was on Nico," Emily said, turning around, resting her elbows on the counter, resting her chin in her hands.
"Ahh, I get it," Nate said, leaning on the counter looking over at Emily with a smug look on his face, and Emily turned her head towards Nate.
"What do you get," Emily asked.
"You're jealous," Nate said in a song-like tone.
"Jealous? What and I jealous of?" Emily questioned.
"You're jealous that Andy is not paying any attention to you like he used to, and now he is paying more attention towards Nico," Nate said. Emily looked surprised, like she was just slapped in the face.
"That is ridiculous. I am not jealous; I just don't like being ignored, " Emily said, crossing her arms. Nate looked at Emily, trying to hold in his laughter, watching his pouting best friend. Nate went to open his mouth but shut it as soon as he saw Andy running over to the two.
"Hey, Nate Evan wants to know if you want to go a size up since the shoes run small?" Andy asked, and Nate sighed.
"I'll go over there. Do you think you can wait here with Emily waiting to get the food?" Nate said.
"Uh, are you sure because I can just go back and tell him?" Andy said uncomfortably.
"Yea, I don't want my date thinking that I am neglecting him," Nate said.
"Uh, okay," Andy said, rubbing the back on his neck.
Nate gave him a small smile giving Andy a little pat on his shoulder before walking off. Andy walked towards the counter, giving him and Emily some distance, making Emily feel weird. Emily looked at Andy, noticing that he was staring at the screen, waiting for their order to come up.
"Hey, Andy?" Emily asked nervously.
"Yeah," Andy said in a cold tone, not breaking eye contact with the screen. Emily shifted uncomfortably, beginning to play with her thumbs.
"Uh, I just wanted to say hi since you didn't see me earlier," Emily said, briefly glancing at Andy before looking at the screen that Andy was looking at.
"No, I saw you," Andy said, and Emily turned to him with a confused look on her face.
"And yet you didn't say anything," Emily asked, becoming a little annoyed.
"Why should I?" Andy turned to Emily. "So I could just be ignored?" Andy said, looking at Emily with cold eyes matching his tone.
"No, because it is common courtesy to say hello instead of ignoring people," Emily said, annoyed.
Andy shrugged his shoulders rolling his eyes turning back at the screen. Emily was now livid and decided to set Andy straight.
"You know I find your attitude to be nothing but rude. I was nothing but nice to you, and you have been treating me like I don't exist. How about you treat me with respect," Emily said, crossing her arms and Andy scoffed at her, looking over at her.
"You are the last one to talk about respect. When was the last time you EVER treated me with respect?" Andy asked.
"What are you even talking about? I treat you with respect all the time," Emily said, causing the teenage boy to scoff.
"Is that so. Okay, let me refresh your memory. Saturday Night, you, Nate, and Nico stopped at Joe's before heading to the party. I was there, and my shift was almost over in about five minutes, and Nate asked me if I wanted to come with you guys to the party. Do you remember what you said?" Emily slowly shook her head no "Well, I do. You said that I couldn't come because you didn't need any distraction. A distraction. Is that what you see me? A distraction?" Andy said, sounding outraged.
"No, I don't," Emily said quietly.
"Then how about you just tell me the truth," Andy said, crossing his arms.
"What do you mean? What am I lying about?" Emily asked.
"You liking me. You don't even want me here. Do you?" Andy said back in his cold tone with a hint of anger laced with it.
"W- what! When did I say I didn't want you here?" Emily asked, tilting her head at the boy.
"You don't have to tell me anything, Emily. I can just see it with your body language," Andy frustratingly said.
"How would you know my body language," Emily said, and Andy sighed, running a hand through his messy, unkempt hair finished with this conversation.
"I'm done," Andy said in a harsh tone.
"D-done with what," Emily said, letting her arms fall to her sides.
"I am done playing these games with you. I am done wasting my time trying to get you to like me when it is pretty clear that you don't even want me around as a friend. I am not trying to make myself a bigger idiot trying to change that," Andy said. Emily stood there, taken back at Andy's outburst. She went to open her mouth, but the words never came, and she lowered her head. The two stood there, not uttering a word until the loudspeaker called their order over the microphone.
"Let's go. We don't want to keep everyone waiting," Andy said, turning around and walking away now, leaving Emily alone.
Emily was stunned at how the nervous, stuttering guy she knew turned into a cold, heartless guy who didn't want anything to deal with her. As Emily watched Andy walk away, she felt the tears well up in her eyes. She shook her head blinked the tears back, taking a shaky breath before walking over to where Andy was grabbing their food before joining her friends.
Despite the fight Emily and Andy had, they didn't let it ruin the night, and it led to everyone else having a good time. Andy pretended he wasn't upset and shifted his attention to beating Nico, forgetting everything between him and Emily. It was pretty easy because Nico was very competitive and kept Andy on his toes. Of the three games they played, Andy and Nico tied each other because Evan won the last game. So the group decided to call it and head over to Joe's for some milkshakes. The group walked up towards the counter, placed their shoes headed outside, breathing in the fresh air.
"Well, that was fun," Nico said, raising her arms over her head stretching a bit.
"It would be more fun with some milkshakes from Joe's," Nate said, cuddling up to Evan, and Evan wrapped his arms around him.
"Well, let's go. The milkshakes won't drink themselves. You guys ready?" Emily said to Nate and Nico, pulling her keys out of her pocket.
"Actually, I was going to ride with Evan. You don't mind, right, Emily?" Nate asked, and Emily paused for a second, giving Nate a smile.
"No, it's okay," Emily said, waving her hands, and Nate smiled at her and walked off with Evan to his car.
"Well, I guess it is just you and me, Nico," Emily said, turning to Nico.
"Actually, I was going to go with Andy," Nico said, standing by Andy.
"Really," Emily said, sounding a little disappointed.
"Yea, but if you are not okay with it, I will stay with you," Nico said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Emily looked over Nico's shoulder and looked at Andy. He shifted his gaze from her to somewhere else, still giving Emily the cold shoulder. Emily looked towards the ground for a moment before looking back up at Nico with a big smile on her face taking her hand off her shoulder, taking them in her hands.
"I'm okay," Emily said, and Nico gave her a troubling look.
"Are you sure?" Nico said, and Emily nodded her head, but Nico was not convinced that Emily was really okay with it.
"Yea, it is a short ride to Joe's. It is not a big deal, go," Emily said, letting go of Nico's hands and taking a step back from her. Nico nodded her head, turning around walking toward Andy, giving him a bright smile that he returned walking away to his car.
Emily watched the two walk away, and Nico turned back one last time, looking at Emily, and she gave Nico a small wave. Andy leaned towards Nico whispered into Nico's ear, and she turned to Andy, giving a soft hit on his shoulder, causing the boy to laugh. She watched him wrap his arms around Nico's shoulders, pulling her closer. Emily felt her chest tighten as she watched the pair walk away. She turned away, trying to shake this feeling as she walked to her car. Emily walked towards her vehicle, unlocking it, stepping inside, and turning it on before pulling out of the parking lot. Emily pulled up at a red light and stared at the red light. Emily felt something wet running down her cheeks as she stared at the light. Emily wiped her face looking at herself in the rearview mirror and leaning back, finally letting the tears fall. Emily started to become angry with herself, thinking over everything that had happened. Emily sat there alone and sad, considering how she should have been honest with herself; then maybe she wouldn't be sitting in the car crying. The light suddenly turned green, and Emily wiped the tears from her face taking a deep breath before pulling off.
Andy pulled into the parking spot, leaning forward to cut off the car, and leaned back in his seat, sitting silently with Nico. Andy started to drum his finger on the steering wheel, looking at Joe's looking ahead of him. Once Andy and Nico got into his car, they didn't utter a word to each other. They drove in silence, with Andy taking glances at Nico, who was lost know thought staring straight ahead playing with a pair of dog tags that hung around her neck. Andy glanced over at Nico, and the teenage girl was staring straight ahead with no emotion on her face. After a Nico didn't respond for a minute, Andy turned back and sighed, looking back at Joe's
"I think you hurt her feeling tonight," Nico finally said, still staring at Joe's.
"Yea, I think so too," Andy sighed, running a hand through his messy brown hair.
"So, what are you going to do about it?" Nico asked, shifting her gaze towards Andy, still looking straight ahead.
"Nothing," Andy said.
"What do you mean nothing," Nico said, looking at Andy arching her eyebrow.
"I mean, I am not going to apologize. Why should I apologize for telling Emily how I feel?" Nico suddenly punched him in the arm, and Andy winched in pain looked at Nico, who now looked angry. "Ow, what the hell Nico," Andy said, rubbing his arm.
"I'll tell you why you are so cold. You are not like that, Andy," Nico said, crossing her arms.
"So what you are telling me is that I should keep being this lovesick puppy and pretend that I'm okay when I know that my feelings for her are going to be ignored. It is better to end this fantasy now than getting hurt later," Andy sighed, looking out the window.
"You're an idiot," Nico said, leaning back into her seat, and Andy looked back at her, confused.
"Enlighten me then, Nico. Why am I an idiot?" Andy asked.
Nico looked at him, she went to open her mouth, but the sound of her phone went off, irrupting the two of them them. Nico pulled out her phone and noticed that Nate texted her, asking where she was because everyone was waiting on them. Nico texted Nate back to tell him they were coming and slid her phone back into her pocket.
"Nate is wondering where we were. We should go before he sends someone out here to get us," Nico unbuckled her seat belt and threw open the door. Nico turned around and leaned down, looking at Andy, who was unbuckling his seatbelt. "And just a word to the wise. Emily would never hurt you, not even if she tried," Nico said, leaving Andy to his thoughts before slamming the door and heading into the building.
Nico hugged herself as she walked towards the entrance of Joe's. Nico looked back at Andy's car one more time before stepping inside of Joe's. Nico walked in and scanned the area before spotting her friends sitting in the large corner booth, talking among themselves. Nico walked up to the group, and Nate was the first to notice her.
"It's about time you showed up. We order your favorite milkshake," Nate said.
"Oh, why, thank you," Nico said, sliding in the seat across from Emily.
Nico looked over at Emily, and she gave Nico a smile turned back to Evan, resuming the conversation they were having before Nico came. Nico looked at Emily and noticed that something was different with her. Until it finally clicked, Emily had been crying. Nico looked at Nate, sharing the same worrying look that Nico had on her face.
"Where's Andy Nico?" Evan said, and on cue, Andy walked through the front door with his hands shoved into his pockets. Andy had a frown scanning the dinner until he spotted the group. He walked over, sliding next to Nico, looking at her before shifting his gaze towards Emily before widening his eyes. Finally, Andy shifted in his seat, turning his body away from Emily, feeling guilty.
"Well, it's about time you showed up. I thought you went home," Nate said, looking over and Andy, who switched his gaze to Nate and smiled at him.
"And miss out on these milkshakes. I don't think so," Andy said. A waitress with blonde hair, bright red lipstick, and dark eyeshadow to look seductive walked up to the group with a tray in her hand full of milkshakes.
"Okay, guys, I have milkshakes all around," The waitress passed the milkshakes to everyone and looked over at Andy smiled at him. "Well, nice of you to finally join Andy. Your friends were waiting for you," The waitress said, leaning closer to Andy.
"Heh yeah," Andy said, rubbing the back of his neck, and the waitress giggled at him, placing a hand on his arm.
"What can get for you, cutie," She waitress said, now rubbing his arm.
"I'll just get a basket of curly fries, and can you make sure that they are crispy," Andy said.
"That's all, sweetie?" the waitress asked, giving Andy a seductive smile. Andy gulped, nodding his head slowly, and the waitress slowly removed her hand before walking off.
"Well, that was awkward. That girl was practically undressing you with her eyes," Evan cleared his throat, taking a sip of Nate's milkshake. "Is she always like that?" Evan asked, and Andy sighed, nodding his head.
"She's always had a thing for Andy," Nate said.
"And she doesn't know when to back off and stop making Andy uncomfortable," Emily said, playing with her straw looking away. Andy looked over at Emily, confused at her comment. She looked up, caught Andy's eye, and shifted her gaze somewhere else.
The group sat there in awkward silence until the waitress returned with Andy's fries placing them in front of him before giving him a wink and walking off. The silence continued until Nico started snickering, which soon became a full laugh. Not long after, Nate joined in, and the rest of them looked at them like they were crazy.
"I'm sorry. It is just that did you see the way she dropped the plate off," Nico said, imitating what the waitress did by placing a hand on Nate's shoulder before giving him a dramatic wink and bursting out into a fit of laughter alongside Nate.
"Right, I thought I was the only one that noticed. Did you notice the way she swung her hips when she brought the plate? I thought she was going to throw the plate by the way she was swinging her arms," Nate said, placing a hand on Nico's shoulder, laughing harder.
"Oh my gosh, yes," Nico said, laughing even more, grabbing ahold of Nate with them both dying of laughter.
As they laughed, Emily chuckled a bit, looking over at Andy, who laughed a little as well. Their eyes met, and Emily looked down at the table as the smile on her face disappeared. Suddenly, a plate of curly fries came into her line of sight. Emily looked up, and Andy rested his chin in his hand, withdrawing his hand from the plate, avoiding Emily's gaze. Emily opened her mouth, but Andy interrupted her.
"If you guys want some fries feel free to grab some. I got them for the table," Andy said. Emily sank back in her seat, sipping her milkshake, looking at the exit, feeling silly, thinking that he was trying to make her feel better.
"Don't mind if I do," Nate said, grabbing a fry from the plate munching on one with Nico following right after him.
The tension disappeared, and everyone was laughing and having a good time. There were awkward moments with Andy and Emily, but Nate and Nico tried to make everything less uncomfortable. The bill came, and everyone paid except Nico because she was cashing in her free meal with Nate, who complained the entire time as the group headed outside.
"Now that milkshake hit the spot," Nate said, stepping outside stretching a bit with everyone coming out behind him.
"I agree we have to do this again. I had fun," Evan said, wrapping his arm around Nate.
"I agree. Now it is time for some sleep," Nico said, yawing.
"Haha, okay. Ready to go?" Evan said, looking down at Nate and Emily knew she would drive alone again, so she started to pull out her keys, ready to walk to her car.
"Actually, babe, I am going to ride home with Emily. Is that okay?" Nate said, looking at Evan. Emily looked over at Nate, confused, and Evan gave an understanding nod.
"I call shotgun this time," Nico said, chiming in now, and Emily looked at Nico, who had her arms crossed, glaring at Nate.
"Are you guys sure, Nate? If you want alone time with Evan, then it is okay," Emily said, waving her hands. Nate slid from under Evan's arm and walked up to Emily, smiling at her.
"Emily, it is fine, and besides, it would only be right since we are going back to Nico's house," Nate said.
"I'm sorry, when did we decide this?" Nico demanded, walking up to Nate.
"Just now," Nate said, walking over to Evan and kissing him before looking back at Nico.
"Well, While you guys figure that out, I'm going to go. Text me when you get home," Evan kissed Nate one more time before looking back at the group. "Have a goodnight, you guys. Let's do this again," Evan said, and with that, he walked off to his car.
"So let's talk about this business with you coming over tonight," Nico said, crossing her arms.
"Of course, we can talk about this. In the car," Nate said, taking off.
"Get back here!" Nico cried out before taking off after him leaving Emily and Andy alone. Emily looked at her two friends, who were sprinting off to a car that was locked. Emily looked back at Andy, still looking towards the ground.
"So," Emily said, rubbing her arm.
"So," Andy said, rubbing the back of his neck, and Emily sighed, knowing that whatever she says won't change the anger Andy has for her.
"Goodnight, Andy," Emily said, walking off. Suddenly Emily felt a grip on her wrist. Emily looked down at her wrist, and her eyes trailed up the arm and locked eyes with Andy.
"W-wait," Andy said, and Emily turned to him, confused by his sudden behavior.
"Yes," Andy let go of Emily's wrist, rubbing the back of his neck staring at the ground. Emily grew annoyed and huffed at him. "Andy, if you are just going to stand there and not say anything, I am going to go home," Emily said, turning around and walking towards her car.
"I'm sorry," Andy called out, and Emily stopped in her track, looking back at Andy.
"For what," Emily asked.
"For what I said. I was upset, and I took it too far," Andy said, still staring at the ground.
"You don't have to apologize. You're right," Emily said, and Andy snapped his head towards Emily, surprised that she agreed with him.
"I'm confused," Andy stated.
"You were right. I didn't mean what I said that night, " Emily said.
"So why did you say it," Andy asked, taking a step closer to her.
"Because I wanted to keep you at a distance," Emily said, rubbing her arm, feeling guilty.
"Why," Andy said, taking a step towards Emily.
"Because of- forget it," Emily said, blinking the tears away.
"Emily, tell me what is going on," Andy said softly, walking up to Emily, looking down at her. Emily closed her eyes, taking a shaky breath looking away from Andy. Andy placed a hand on her shoulder, and she looked at him.
"Just forget it, Andy," Emily said. Andy huffed, now growing annoyed at Emily's dismissive behavior.
"No, tell me, Emily. I don't understand why you can't be honest with me!" Andy shouted.
"Honest! You want me to be honest?" Emily shouted, pushing Andy away.
"Yes! I have been honest with my feeling for you for the longest time, and you have been stringing me along," Andy said.
"I never strung you along!" Emily shouted, and Andy scoffed.
"And now you are lying," Andy said.
"No, I am not!" Emily yelled.
"So be honest with me!" Andy screamed.
"I can't do that!" Emily said, frustrated.
"And why not!?" Andy cried out.
"How can I be honest with you if I can't be honest with myself!" Emily said, pulling her black ponytail over her shoulder playing with the end of it.
"What are you talking about, Emily? "Andy asked.
"I am talking about my feelings for you," Emily said in a whisper.
"Wait, let us just take a step back. Emily, I am going to ask you this. Do you like me?" Emily bit her lower lip and slowly nodded, and Andy froze for a second. "So why didn't you tell me?" Andy asked, and Emily stayed silent, staring at the ground.
Andy sighed and walked up to Emily, and he placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head to where she was looking into Andy's eyes. Andy leaned towards Emily closing the distance between them closing his eyes. Emily was surprised but leaned into the kiss returning it closing her eyes. Andy wrapped his arms around Emily's waist, pulling her closer to where their bodies are flushed against each other. Emily sighed happily, wrapping her arms around Andy's neck as their lips danced with each other. As the two kissed, they started to struggle for air, and Andy pulled away, looking at Emily, smiling at her. Emily beamed at him, and Andy rested his forehead on Emily's, letting out a sigh.
"I like you, Andy. I always have liked you. I just was afraid of doing something about it because I was afraid of ruining our friendship. Still, I think it sounds silly now," Emily said in a whisper, and Andy rested his head in the crook, Emily's neck falling silent.
"Andy, are you okay?" Emily asks, and Andy looks at Emily with a big smile before kissing her again.
"I am just happy hearing you tell me about how you feel," Andy said.
"So, what do we do now?" Emily asked, and Andy looked at Emily, holding her tighter.
"Well, how about we take it slow and see where we go from there," Andy said, and Emily smiled at him, hugging him.
Andy returned the hug, pulled away, and looked down at Emily, ready to kiss her again. The moment their lips brushed against each other, Emily's phone went off. Emily groaned, steeping away from Andy, pulling out her phone, and looking at it before sliding it back into her back pocket.
"I have to go. The kids are looking for me," Emily said, rolling her eyes.
"It's okay, go. I'll see you tomorrow" Andy leaned forwards and kissed Emily one more time before leaning towards her ear. "Goodnight, Emily. Dream about me," Andy said in a seductive tone that made Emily shiver, making her think this was the same Andy who was always nervous. Andy backed away from Emily, smiling at her before turning and walking away.
Emily walked toward her car, looking at her two friends, arguing with each other about the front seat. Emily walked towards the driver seat, unlocking the car before sliding in. Nate and Nico stopped talking and looked at each other before piling into the car and looking at Emily. She was just sitting in the car, looking straight ahead with a slight smile on her face.
"Hey, Em," Nate said, touching Emily's shoulder.
"Hm," Emily said, looking towards Nate.
"You okay," Nate said.
"What, yeah, I'm fine. Why'd you ask?" Emily asked, looking at both of her friends, who looked concerned.
"Well, you just look a little flushed," Nate said, and Nico agreed.
"Oh, I'm fine," Emily said, now starting the car backing out of the parking spot. Then, pulling off, Nate looked at Nico with an arched eyebrow. She was busy on her phone with a perplexed look on her face, and he sighed, leaning back into the chair, wondering what was going through his two best friend's heads.
Nico sat in the back of the library, looking through the papers laid out in front of her. She studies them before switching her attention towards the journal lying in front of her. Nico started to scribble on one of the pages, not noticing the figure walking up to her. Nico continued to write as the figure stood there awkwardly, looking down at her before clearing their throat.
"You're late," Nico said, still scribbling on the paper.
"By like five minutes," The person said.
"I don't care, Zane, I gave you a time frame, and you missed it, so I am not helping you," Nico said, glancing up at Zane before looking back at the journal, and Zane huffed at Nico.
"Come on, Nico," Zane pleaded, and Nico looked back up at him with a bored look painted across her face.
"What's the excuse you are going to give me? Let me guess, you're alarm didn't go off, and you overslept? Or did your car didn't start? Or you just got lost on your way to the library," Nico said, resuming scribbling on a piece of paper.
"Actually, no. My old man stopped me and interrogated me on where I was going so early, and when I told him, he didn't believe me. So it created a fight between us," Nico stopped writing and gave him a look like she was not convinced, and Zane slid into the chair across from her. "Can't you just let this one go just once, please?" Zane pleaded, and Nico sighed.
"Pull out what you are having trouble in before I change my mind," Nico said, and Zane nodded his head and pulled out his math book flipping through some pages.
As Zane found the right page, he showed Nico, and she slid her chair to where she was now sitting next to him, looking onto the page. They sat there for a while before Nico assigned him some problems to work with. Nico slid her chair back to sit across from him and continued to work on what she was doing. After a while, Zane looked at Nico, who was super focused. He got a better looked at her and found himself staring way too long. Zane shook his head, ready to ask her what she was working on, until he spotted the journal sitting on the table.
"So, what did you find out?" Zane asked, and Nico looked up at him, confused. Zane pointed at the book, and Nico sighed as she flipped through some of the pages.
"Well, I read the entire book, and what I discovered is that someone had this book after the author because there are notes that don't match the writhing that wrote the book. So I need to find the connection between the author of the journal and the person who wrote the notes. Still, I haven't found anything yet," Nico said, turning the book around pointing at one of the notes.
"Did those notes hint at who they were?" Zane asked, and Nico shook her head.
"No, but I do think that the author of the book and this mystery person were probably related in some way," Nico said.
"Why would you think that?" Zane asked, arching an eyebrow at Nico.
"Well, if you look at the notes, the notes look personal like they knew the author," Zane tilted his head, confused, and Nico continued. "So I started to analyze this book section by section, but I was getting more questions than answers, so now I am stuck," Nico said, rubbing her temples.
"Well, maybe I can help answer those questions," Zane said, leaning forward.
"Well, wait, didn't I give you questions to work on?" Nico asked, looking over at Zane's paper, and Zane gave it to her with a big smile on his face.
"I finished, aren't you proud," Zane said, propping his head upon the table resting in his hands, and Nico rolled her eyes, taking the paper from him.
"I'll be proud when you pass the test next week," Nico said as she scanned the paper.
"So, what was the point of giving me these math problems?" Zane asked, confused.
"It is just to give me an idea of what you need help in. I will not help you with what you already know, only the ones you have real trouble with. It makes both of our jobs easier," Nico said as she marked up his paper.
As Nico checked his answers, Zane slid his chair beside Nico, looking at the spread-out papers. Zane picked one of the pages up and looked at it with a great deal of confusion on his face. Numbers were lined up in a list. Some numbers are circled and written on the side with the important or repeated written underneath them. Zane turned the page over and saw those same circled numbers were written down in order from lower to highest or the other way around. Some numbers were added up and divided by how many were on the list, but every result had question marks alongside them.
"So, what is this for?" Zane asked, and Nico briefly glanced at what Zane was looking at before looking back at Zane's paper.
"That's another thing I have been stuck on. I checked out the pages you mentioned, and these numbers went on for about three pages. I am assuming that these pages are super important from the notes because of the notes written next to each number," Nico said, sighing.
"Well, what does it mean?" Zane asked, picking up another page with the same number, but this time it was marked in degrees with places written next to some of them.
"At first, I thought it was some code, but the number didn't add upright, so I switched the numbers around and still nothing. So then I thought maybe if I add those repeating numbers up, then maybe that it makes up a point of a map like longitude and latitude and maybe pinpoint a place. Still, no, it didn't make sense either," Nico said, finishing marking the last couple of problems.
"Wow, you did a lot," Zane put the papers down, scanning the others that Nico had lying around. Nico nodded and leaned back in her chair, signifying that she was done. "So, how'd I do?" Zane asked, and Nico leaned forward, looking back at Zane's paper, reading it through one last time.
"Honestly, you didn't do so bad. You showed that you had a lot of trouble with certain functions but everything else you're okay in. I guarantee that you are going to pass the test next week if you manage to understand it in time," Nico said, looking over at Zane.
"You really think so?" Zane beamed.
"Yeah, if you manage it, make it to your tutoring sessions on time," Nico said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Okay, so how about we meet up at lunch for tutoring," Zane said.
"Why can't I just tutor you a little bit now," Nico said in confusion.
"No, because now I am going to help you in decoding whatever this is," Zane said, gesturing to the pile of papers on the table.
"Well, I guess another set of eyes wouldn't hurt," Nico said, and Zane smiled, reaching for the book, grabbing it, and looking through it.
"Maybe there is something that you missed in here, and maybe we can find out who had the book before you," Zane said, scanning through the book, and Nico scooted closer towards Zane, looking through the book with him.
After half an hour of looking, decoding it left Nico and Zane even more stumped than before. Zane closed the book and leaned back into his chair, and started to rub his temples groaning at the lack of headway they were making. Suddenly the bell rang that first period was about to begin. Zane got up from his chair, grabbed his math book, and shoved it into his bag before throwing it over his shoulder. Nico collected the papers and slid them into her binder before pushing them into her bag along with the journal. Nico gathered the rest of her things, got up from her chair, and the two walked towards the exit. Zane pushed the door open, letting Nico go first before walking through himself.
"Okay, well, I'll see you in class," Nico said, and Zane looked at her, confused.
"Why don't we go together?" Zane asked.
"I just got to head to my locker and drop some things off," Nico said, holding her helmet up a little higher, and Zane nodded in agreement, and they went their separate ways.
Zane walked into the classroom and sat at his desk, and his friends crowded him for a bit, talking about nothing interested to Zane. He tuned them out until Mrs. Darcy came into the classroom, telling everyone to get into their seats as Nico walked into the room. Mrs. Darcy called her out on being late, and Nico apologized before shuffling to her desk as Mrs. Darcy started writing on the board. Zane glanced at Nico, seeing that she was already staring out the window, not having a care in the world. Zane always caught Nico looking out the window, and he wondered what was out there and what was so captivating to her. Zane looked back at the board to see what Mrs. Darcy had planned for today's class. As Zane stared at the board, something suddenly clicked. Zane gasped, practically bouncing in his seat because he couldn't believe what he saw. What took him and Nico forever to crack had the answer just staring at him in the face.